Welcome Centre hosts multilingual summer workshops for more than 1,000 newcomers to Surrey Schools

This summer, the district's Welcome Centre offered supports for incoming families several weeks earlier than usual, reaching more than 1,000 students and parents new to Canada. More than 200 of them attended multilingual workshops to learn more about the school system and help their transition to Surrey.

As more and more families move to Surrey, the district’s Welcome Centre continues to live up to its name, welcoming more than 1,000 students and parents who recently settled in Canada and preparing them for school through various supports and multilingual summer workshops.

This summer, the Welcome Centre piloted a full summer service program that began in July, offering supports to immigrant and refugee families several weeks earlier than previous years. By actively engaging newly arrived families early, staff were able to prepare students and parents for what to expect in the fall, hosting workshops for more than 200 newcomers and offering supports for transitions to school life.

“The families really appreciated the opportunity to start their transition process so quickly after their arrival,” said Parampal Sharma, manager of the Welcome Centre. “Engaging new families early and offering support sooner helped alleviate their anxieties and effectively prepare them for the transition to school life in Canada.”

Over the course of six weeks, staff were able to assist parents and students, and respond to any questions and concerns, with supports available in Punjabi, Hindi, Farsi, Dari, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Spanish and French.

“The families in attendance expressed a feeling of relief as many of their questions about the schooling were answered and they felt better prepared for the start of school,” said Sharma.

But the Welcome Centre’s supports aren’t just restricted to the summer – the centre operates year-round and serves to address communication issues, language barriers and cultural differences, with settlement workers available to provide support in more than 30 languages.

Throughout the year, the Welcome Centre provides a wide range of workshops to increase familiarity to life and systems in Canada, including education, health and well-being, adjustment to life in Canada, digital literacy, employment, language training, community resources, parenting and more.

The B.C. Education System workshop is the most popular and covers the district’s vision, enrolment procedures, report cards, code of conduct, school programs and services, parent and school communication, parenting tips and resources, and graduation requirements. These sessions are delivered in more than 10 languages, with multilingual print and online resources distributed to further enhance accessibility of information.

Other services include educational programs for students transitioning to adulthood, school-based multicultural workers for in-class assistance, ELL (English Language Learner) assessments, adult English classes for parents and programs for vulnerable youth.

To learn more about the Welcome Centre and its services, supports and workshops, visit surreyschools.ca/welcomecentre